Lemonade
Jonathan Endurance a sob of raindrops wets the face of earth, & the night, like cherry blossom, dreams under the miracles of heaven. in the dark, i open the vehicle door, walk you into the café. you sip through hot coffee as i stroke your hair into a bridge of lanes. the radio track engines your heart into a snow of memory. your mouth —a pigeon testing the current of water. we share stories of our past & your lips caked with coffee stains become a threshold into the warmth of grief. i unhook your hair & watch it canopies into a garden of lavender flowers. we watch an episode of Sorrowful Passion; afraid of losing your voice to the dryness of ash, you cup your face with your palms —two pairs of torn shoes & a broken flower remind you of your father's tragedy, how that night his body was an animal smeared with ash like dead flower without chlorophyll. your brother knelt at his feet like a bird in awe, mother rushed for the rosary bead only to meet a dead tilapia. it's months now, you walk into the bathroom scrubbing your past away; you peek into the mirror & your body reminds you that healing is a miracle & that you're still far from God's threshold. you walk through the garden, the birds mistake you for a paparazzo. A flower falls on your shoulder, you inhale the foliole to know how it feels like to be a garden. in the cafeteria, you're bold enough to choke under the grip of memory now, you talk about your father like a bird sipping through a cup of lemonade. you giggle as i stroke your hair into a candelabra. later that night, you dreamt of father in a white satin dress gracing the orchard entrance like nature photographer. |
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About the Author:
Jonathan Endurance is a Nigerian poet and student whose work has appeared in or forthcoming in The Ellis Review, Canvas, Eunoia Review, The Rising Phoenix Review, Brittle Paper, and other literary journals. His unpublished poem won UNESCO Sponsored Prize for the 14th edition of Castello Di Duino Poetry Competition, ITALY. Say hello on (twitter @joepoet_) (Instagram @joepoet_) (Facebook @Jonathan Endurance)
Jonathan Endurance is a Nigerian poet and student whose work has appeared in or forthcoming in The Ellis Review, Canvas, Eunoia Review, The Rising Phoenix Review, Brittle Paper, and other literary journals. His unpublished poem won UNESCO Sponsored Prize for the 14th edition of Castello Di Duino Poetry Competition, ITALY. Say hello on (twitter @joepoet_) (Instagram @joepoet_) (Facebook @Jonathan Endurance)